Leopold gets 2 skill points for gaining a fighter level, +2 skill points for his 14 Intelligence (and +1 point if Leopold is human).

You multiply a character's allotment of skill points by four only when the character chooses his initial set of skills at 1st level, as a 1st-level fighter/1st-level rogue, Leopold is a 2nd-level character.

When adding a class level, you always add 4'-allotment of skill points as shown on Table 4-1 in the Player's Handbook, plus any adjustments and Intelligence scores. If Leopold had added a level of ranger or barbarian, he would have added 4 ill points for his class, plus 2 points for intelligence (and 1 point if he's human).

When a multi-class character gains skill points from a newly added class level, he must spend those skill points as if he were any other member of that class. For example, if Leopold adds a fighter level, he purchases ranks in the Hide skill as a cross-class skill, and he can't purchase any ranks in Use Magic Device (because that skill is exclusive to rogues, and Leopold is buying skills as a fighter). Leopold can, however, purchase Handle Animal as a class skill, even though it was a cross-class skill for him as a rogue.

A skill's max rank depends on a multi-classed character level (not on his level in any particular class). If a skill is a class skill for at least one of the character's classes, the character maximum rank in the skill is his character level + 3; if a skill is not a class skill for any of the character's classes, the maximum rank is half that.

Yes, you are correct. The levels a character has in a favored class don't count when determining if the character suffers an XP penalty for multi-classing.

You refer, I presume, to the half-orc's racial ability adjustments of +2 Strength, -2 Intelligence, and -2 Charisma. (Those numbers do indeed add up to a net total of -2). The game's designers decided that a +2 bonus to Strength more than outweighs the -2 penalty to Intelligence and Charisma, especially considering the half-orc's 6o-foot darkvision and favored class of barbarian. Numbers alone don't always tell the whole story.

When you refocus, you spend your entire round refocusing. You cannot act or move (not even a 5-foot step). You do not reroll initiative next round; your initiative is treated as though you've rolled a 20 on your initiative check. Though many people seem to think refocus is great option, it's seldom-if ever-worth doing. (See the next question.)

If you ready an action and then act when a person with a higher initiative acts, you're effectively giving up your action so you can go earlier in a later round, which is pretty much the same as refocusing. In some rare instances, refocus could be better, because it can set your initiative number even higher than the highest other initiative, and that could be an advantage if new foes enter the fight. Also, you can only ready a partial action. If you refocus, you can make a full attack at your new initiative. If you ready an attack, you get to make a single attack only when if s finally your turn. In general, you're right, though. Refocus is mostly a "feel good" option, as in: "I've refocused now look at what a great initiative number I have!"

In the D&D game's cyclical initiative system, it's almost always to your advantage to act as soon as you can, and refocus actually delays your action by forcing it into the next round. Using delay or ready is just about always smarter than refocusing. About the only time refocus isn't a foolish thing to do is when you've got absolutely nothing useful to do anyway.

Yes it does. If you choose the full attack you make all your attacks during your turn, no matter how many attacks you have or what your position in the initiative order is. Your multiple attacks do not change your initiative number.

Note that full attack does not allow a move (except for a 5 foot step), which means that a character with a high initiative number can usually not use it until the second round of a combat, when she has moved into position.

Once you factor in the effects of skills and spells, the game offers a plethora of ways to escape a foe unharmed. Even if you don't have a spell or skill to get you out of trouble, you can disengage from an opponent and not provoke an attack of opportunity just by moving.

If all you do during your turn is move (not run) the space you start in (generally considered a 5-foot square) is not considered threatened and nobody gets attacks of opportunity against you. If you later move through another threatened area, however, you are subject to attacks of opportunity. (If your opponent has reach, you can forget about getting away without drawing an attack of opportunity.)

Even if you take advantage of this rule, you'll need to have a better movement rate than your opponent or move someplace where your opponent can't follow to get away clean.

Damage a spellcaster takes before his turn doesn't affect his spellcasting unless the damage came in the form of a continuing effect, such as from Melf's acid arrow. (See the "Concentration" section of Chapter 10 in the Player's Handbook and the description of the Concentration skill in Chapter 4.) Note that there's nothing special about the point in time that happens to be the start of a round. You can disrupt a spellcaster with Melf's acid arrow even if you hit him with it last round. You don't have to hit the spellcaster with it "before" his turn on the round he's being disrupted.

You can use a readied action to try to disrupt the spellcaster, but you might not need to. Spellcasting provokes an attack of opportunity unless the spellcaster successfully casts on the defensive. (See the "Magic Actions" section of Chapter 8.) Perhaps the best way to disrupt an opponent's spells is to grapple him, preventing him from casting spells with somatic components or material components he didn't already have in hand.

No, the attack of opportunity must deal damage to force a Concentration check. Damage that is completely negated by a special defense, such as damage reduction or energy resistance, does not cause a Concentration check. If a special defense only partially negates damage, only the damage that actually gets through to the target contributes to a Concentration check's DC.

A second weapon gives you one extra attack each round at your best attack bonus. You make your normal number of attacks with your primary hand and one attack with your other hand. When you use an extra weapon, however, all the attacks you make suffer a penalty. If you don't have the Two-Weapon Fighting or Ambidexterity feats and you're not using a light weapon in your off hand, all the attacks you make with your primary hand suffer a -6 penalty, and the attack you make with your other hand suffers a -10 penalty. Assuming no other bonuses, the character in your example would make two attacks with her primary hand at +0/-5 and one attack with her off hand at -4.

If you use a light weapon in your other hand, the attack penalties are slightly lower. See Table 8-2 in the Player's Handbook (and the text accompanying it) for details.

On an attack, a roll Of 20 on the die is always a success and a roll of 1 is always a failure. This represents the inherently chancy nature of combat, and the innumerable variables that are completely beyond the character's control. In the case of attack rolls, common sense prevails. A roll Of 20 can't produce a hit when a hit isn't possible (such as when a target is beyond a melee attack's reach or a ranged attack's maximum range). Some circumstances always produce a hit or a miss no matter what the attack roll is. For example, an attack against a concealed target has a flat chance to miss (see Table 8-10 in the Player's Handbook), no matter what the attack roll is. Likewise if you perform a coup de grace or take a full round to line up a melee attack on an unattended object, you always hit.

Saving throws are similar to attack rolls in that there's always a little something beyond the character's control. Like combat, there are cases where the roll is irrelevant, even if it's a 1 or 20. Creatures that are immune to an attack form never have to roll saving throws against that attack. Likewise, if a spell or attack form doesn't allow a saving throw in the first place, you can't roll a saving throw and hope to get a 20.

Skill checks are not subject to automatic success or failure. Some tasks are just too easy for failure or too hard for success. (Most people don't fail once on every 20 attempts to tie their shoes.)

Ability checks are likewise not subject to automatic failure or success. (No matter how lucky you are, you're just not going to kick down a castle wall.) If the DM feels that chance might affect the outcome, a saving throw or an attack roll is probably more appropriate.

Indeed there is. You'll find it on the first page of the appendix (page 275) in the Player's Handbook. Always round a fraction down (even if it is bigger than one half) unless the rules specifically tell you to round up.

It doesn't fire more missiles because the Empower Spell feat increases a spell's variable, numeric effects. In the case of magic missile, that's the spell's damage, not the number of missiles. A spell such as sleep, on the other hand, affects a variable number of targets (2d4 HD worth of creatures). An Empowered Sleep Spell affects 2d4 x i.5 HD worth of creatures.

Yes, but not efficiently. Let's say a character uses a detect magic spell, though the following example applies to any detection spell. The spell reveals nothing about the invisible opponent unless the character happens to aim the spell at the area containing his foe. If the enemy is using an invisibility spell, a spell-like invisibility power, or a supernatural invisibility power, the detect magic spell merely reveals that there is magic somewhere in the area. The detect magic caster has no idea where the magical aura is, what sort of creature or object bears the aura, or whether the aura is in motion.

One round later, the detect magic user can search for magical auras again. If the user manages to aim the spell at the invisible foe once more, the detect magic spell reveals the number of magical auras on the foe and the strength of the strongest aura (because the user has scanned the same subject for 2 consecutive rounds). The detect magic user still has no idea exactly where the foe is, what the foe is like, or whether the foe is moving.

After another round goes by, the detect magic user can scan for magical auras once again. If the user is lucky enough to catch the invisible foe for a third time, she will have scanned the same subject for 3 consecutive rounds. The detect magic spell now reveals the strength and location of each aura. The detect magic user still does not "see" the foe and does not know whether the target is moving. (She knows only the strength and locations of magical auras during her turn in the initiative order.) In this case, a "location" is the 5-foot square that contains the aura. If the creature or item bearing the aura takes up more than one square, the detect magic user can get some idea of its size. (See "Big and Little Creatures in Combat" in Chapter 8 of the Player's Handbook.) It is possible for the detect magic user to attack the location of one of the auras the spell has revealed. If the spell revealed auras in different locations, the detect magic user still might not choose the right location to attack. Even if she does, the foe has total concealment, and the attack has a 50% chance to miss no matter what the attack roll is.

Remember that all of the foregoing depends on the detect magic spell user scanning the invisible foe for 3 consecutive rounds. If the detect magic user guesses incorrectly about where to scan even once, she'll have to start the process of zeroing in on her invisible opponent all over again.

Use a similar procedure when a character tries to locate an invisible creature with any other "detect" spell.

No. Spell immunity gives the subject an unbeatable spell resistance versus the specified spell. Since none of these spells are subject to spell resistance, spell immunity is useless against them.

Yes. An unarmed strike or another natural weapon is a "weapon" for purposes of the Improved Critical feat (and for most other purposes).

A really heavy load just doesn't affect your speed that much. It affects your ability to accelerate, maneuver, or stop, which is why a heavily loaded creature's maximum Dexterity bonus goes down, and its skill check penalty goes up. Essentially, the creature can lumber along at a pretty good clip once it gets going, but has a hard time keeping its balance or making sudden moves.

Yes, you have to have a masterwork weapon before you can enchant it. Masterwork and enhancement bonuses don't stack because they're the same basic type of bonus (an enhancement bonus): They both make a weapon more effective.

No. If a weapon is not created as a masterwork weapon, it will never be one. I suppose a used weapon could be melted down to provide materials for a new masterwork weapon, though. The resulting masterwork weapon would not be any cheaper to make.

At whatever caster level the character who made the item decided to set the level. An item's caster level can be no higher than its creator's level at the time the item was made, and no lower than the minimum level required to cast the spell effect the item generates or the spell used to create the item.

The Dungeon Master’s Guide, which will be released in September, has default caster levels for magic items. Until then, just assume that an item's caster level is the minimum required to cast the effect the item generates. For example, casting fireball requires a 5^th level wizard, so a wand of fireball casts the spell at 5^th level. Note that the 2nd Edition AD&D game used preset caster levels for all magic items. If you're converting from that set of rules to the new rules, use the old caster levels. Those caster levels are as follows: wand 6th-level; staff 8th-level; potion 12th-level; other item 12th-level; artifact DM's discretion, but Usually 20th-level.

Taking 10 is a way to eliminate chance from a skill check; you can take 10 pretty much anytime you're using a skill and there are no distractions.

Taking 20 represents using a skill over and over again until you succeed. (That's why taking 20 uses up so much time.) You can't take 20 if there's a consequence for failure. Since failing a Hide check means you've been spotted, you can't take 20 on a Hide check. In general, you can't take 20 on any check that is resolved with an opposed roll.

It might be possible to take 10 on a Hide check. For example, suppose a sentry looks around for a suitable place to hide at the beginning of his watch and then settles in. Since the sentry is not trying to hide from anyone in particular, the DM might very well allow the sentry to take 10 on the Hide check.

Yes. Attacking a charging opponent with a readied weapon is a melee attack, and all the rules for melee attacks apply.

Yes. Charging imposes an Armor Class penalty, but it doesn't keep you from threatening an area or making attacks of opportunity.

Being prone doesn't prevent you from threatening the area around you or making attacks of opportunity. Any attacks of opportunity a prone creature makes suffer the -4 attack penalty for being prone.

You can ready any partial action. You can't take a standard action, such as casting a spell, and also ready an action. (Readying is a standard action all by itself.) Note that you can take a move after any standard action, so you can cast a spell and then move away. So, in the above example, you've got to get the heck out of Dodge right after you finish the spell.

No. A coup de grace is a full round action, and you can ready only partial actions.

In one day of light activity (no combat or spellcasting), the character heals 1 point of damage in each ability. After one day of bed rest, the character heals 2 points of damage in each ability.

While the DM is always right, he's followed a faulty line of reasoning here. "Sage Advice" has always warned against using scientific-or pseudo-scientific-reasoning to adjudicate spells. In this case, your DM has erroneously supposed that water resistance has something to do with buoyancy. Buoyancy depends on the water literally pushing something up toward the surface, and a freedom of movement spell doesn't prevent that any more than it prevents a floor from pushing up against a character's feet and keeping him from failing through it. (You might not be in the habit of thinking of floors as "pushing" anything, but that is the way modem physics describes any object or body resting on any surface; the object pushes down and the surface pushes back with equal force.)

In any case, the freedom of movement spell (and its cousin from earlier editions, the free action spell) has nothing to do with eliminating water resistance or friction; it allows normal movement and attacks even under conditions in which normal movement and attacks are not possible, such as underwater or when webbed, held, or entangled. Exactly how the spell accomplishes that is unrevealed-that's what makes it I magic. Your DM would have been on firmer ground (as it were) if he had claimed that failing is a form of "normal movement" that water usually prevents. That, however, is not the case. "Normal movement" in water is swimming or walking along the bottom. When a character under a freedom of movement effect enters water, he makes a Swim check; if he fails, he cannot move, and he sinks if he fails by 5 or more. Note that failing to make progress or sinking are both "normal movement" in this instance. That, however, is not the case. "Normal movement" in water is swimming or walking along the bottom. When a character under a freedom of movement effect enters water, he makes a Swim check; if he fails, he cannot move, and he sinks if he fails by 5 or more. Note that failing to make progress or sinking are both "normal movement" in this instance.

No. You're flat footed when you're surprised, and you can't deflect arrows when you're flat footed. Uncanny dodge lets you use your Dexterity bonus while flat footed, but it doesn't keep you from becoming flat footed. Note that uncanny dodge also does not allow you to make attacks of opportunity while flat footed.

Neither Wilderness Lore nor Knowledge, (nature) lets you recognize monsters. At one time, the D&D design team discussed adding a Knowledge (monsters) skill, but we decided not to. Some DMs like their players to "play dumb" when their characters encounter a new monster, but others consider such pretense to be a nuisance, so the game doesn't have rules for recognizing monsters which would imply rules for being ignorant about monsters).

In any case, Wilderness Lore might let you recognize the area containing the mold as hazardous (by spotting bones or by noticing that the local animals seem to avoid it). The Wilderness Lore DC for recognizing such a hazard is i5, and the mold would have to be in a wilderness setting for the Wilderness Lore skill to be of any use in recognizing the mold as a hazard.

It's possible that a character with the Knowledge (nature) skill might happen to know something about a killer mold. Noting a killer mold (or any other harmful creature that is not obviously dangerous) has a DC in the 2o to 30 range-the rarer the creature, the higher the DC.

Knowledge (nature) is not a substitute for the Wilderness Lore skill. Indeed, even today the great outdoors is sprinkled with the broken, frozen, starved, or dehydrated bodies of folks who thought they knew what they were doing outside, but really didn't. A character with the Knowledge (nature) skill might have some book learning that suggests the proper course of action in a wilderness setting, but a Knowledge skill does not impart much in the way of practical know-how. (See the next question.) At best, five ranks of Knowledge (nature) will grant a +2 synergy bonus to Wilderness Lore checks.

A Craft skill involves a character making something with her hands (usually also with tools, but not always). The relevant ability for a Craft skill is Intelligence, mostly because one must remember the right materials, procedures, and techniques, as well as apply them in the proper manner.

A Profession skill also involves specialized knowledge and techniques, but usually does not involve the character working with his hands. The relevant ability for a Profession skill is Wisdom, because it usually requires the character to apply her skills in an abstract, indirect, or speculative manner. Stonemasonry is a Craft, but architecture is a Profession. A Profession skill also implies a broader, less concrete knowledge than a Craft skill does; a stonemason can build a stone house, but not a wooden one. An architect can design a house made out of almost anything. Note that the Wilderness Lore skill could be called Profession (outdoorsman), but the design team decided to break it out into its own skill because it was much more likely to see use in play than other Profession skills.

A Knowledge skill involves academic learning, usually with little practical training. The relevant ability for a Knowledge skill is Intelligence, because it involves the memorization and recall of facts. A character with Knowledge (geology) knows her stones, but she would be hard pressed to carve a statue, build a stone bridge, or dig a mine. A Knowledge skill allows a character to recall facts that might be relevant in a particular

time and place but does not impart any special ability to put those facts to practical use. For example, a character lost in the woods might use Knowledge (nature) skill to recall that moss often grows the thickest on the north side of trees. But Knowledge (nature) probably will not reveal when moss does not grow thickest on the north sides of trees (which is most of the time, actually). Nor will the Knowledge (nature) skill help the character remember the direction to the nearest settlement or allow the character to make sure she walks in a straight line when moving cross country.

No, it does not. The power is similar to the power word, kill spell-your hit points are effectively your saving throw.

So he can draw a weapon quickly. Actually, this feat is particularly useful to fighters of 6th level or higher because the feat makes drawing a weapon a free action. That means the fighter can draw a weapon and still make a full attack action.

Not really, but the class you start with strongly affects the character's hit points and skills. For example, a character gets the maximum result for her first Hit Die, so sometimes it is advisable to make that first die as large as possible, especially if you plan to have the character fight often. (A few extra hit points also makes it more likely that the character will live to see 2nd level.) On the other hand, a character's initial allotment of skill points is quadrupled for his first character level, so if you're interested in having a lot of skills, put the class that has the most skill points first.

Consider these two versions of a human 1st-level fighter/1st-level rogue: Assuming the character has Intelligence and Constitution scores Of 12, the character would have 26 skill points and 13 to i8 hit points (average of 15-i6) if he was a fighter first. If the same character began play as a rogue, he would have 44 skill points and 9 to 18 hit points (average of 13-14).

If one of your character's classes is paladin or monk, you'll face multi-classing restrictions. Once you quit the paladin or monk class, you can't go back. Don't put the paladin or monk class first unless you're willing to either wave the class goodbye or stick with it for a good while. (Either option is slightly easier with a human character.)

No. In previous versions of the D&D game, elves were hard to bring back from the dead, but that is no longer the case. Note that spells such as raise dead can now bring any living creature back from the dead, not just humans and humanlike creatures.

Yes. A paralyzed creature is unable to move or take physical actions, but holding one's breath is not a physical action for game purposes.

In the case of touch-range spells, the duration refers to how long the magic lasts once you touch the target (though there are one or two oddballs, such as hocking grasp, which are described in a slightly different way). When you cast a spell with touch range, you can try to ' touch a recipient on the same round you cast the spell. See Touch Spells in Combat on page 125 of the Player's Handbook.

If you do not touch a recipient on the round you cast the spell, you hold the charge until you do touch a recipient or until you cast another spell. See Touch Spells and Holding the Charge on page 151 of the Player's Handbook.

In the case of the chill touch spell, the spell remains until you make your allowed number of touches (you lose one charge each time you touch something) or until you cast another spell.

The effects of a chill Touch spell are instantaneous, but they have lasting consequences. There are many such examples in the rules. A fireball spell, for example, creates an instantaneous burst of fire, but the damage it causes remains behind after the spell's magical effect is gone. Normal damage from a chill touch (or a fireball spell remains until healed or cured. The Strength damage heals at the rate of 1-2points each day or until restored, just like any other kind of temporary ability damage. See Healing Ability Damage on page 129 of the Player Handbook, as well as the question on healing ability damage above.

I'm assuming that by the "edge" of a web effect, you mean that there is not 5 or more feet of webbing between you and your opponent, leaving you sort of embedded in one side of the mass of webbing. In this situation, you are subject to attack, you get no cover from the webbing, and you are entangled (with a -4 penalty to your effective Dexterity score).

Only creatures that are in the spell's area of effect when the web is cast can become stuck, and then only if they fail their Reflex saving throws. Creatures moving into the web area of effect after the spell is cast must still make Strength checks to move through the webbing. The Strength checks are full-round actions, so your opponents probably won't cut through the web to attack you, but they can do so without fear of getting stuck themselves.

Actually, a heal spell does remove poison; see the third sentence in the spell description. Poison, however, deals damage until its onset time (usually 1 minute) is over or the poison is removed, even when all the damage from the poison is somehow removed. For example, a character suffers 2 points of temporary Strength damage from a poison and is then the target of a lesser restoration spell before the poison's onset time is over. Even if the spell cures all the Strength damage, the character still has to make a another saving throw against the poison when the onset time expires, because lesser restoration doesn't remove poison, just its effects.

A critical hit doesn't deliver any extra poison; however, there are special attacks that do have extra effects with critical hits. These include energy drains, ability drains, and most kinds of ability damage that are not dealt through poison. See the introduction to the Monster Manual (coming next month) or Chapter 3 of the Dungeon Master's Guide.

A spell-like ability cannot be counterspelled, nor can it be used as a counterspell.

Wrong. The letter of the current spell description is on your side, but the text is incorrect. Replace the first two sentences of the spell description with the following:

When you cast sepia snake sigil, a small symbol appears in the text of one written work such as a book, scroll, or map. The text containing the symbol must be at least 25 words long, When a one reads the text containing the symbol the sepia snake springs into being and strikes the reader, provided there is line of effect between the symbol and the reader. Simply seeing the enspelled is not sufficient to trigger the spell. The subject must deliberately read the text.

No, it means that there are no special limits on what the creature can do during the last round of the spell. It takes a normal round's worth of actions, then disappears.

No, The general rule against stacking similar effects applies here; the character gets only the best spell resistance. Against most effects, the character uses the spell resistance Of 17 that the robe of the arch-magi provides. Against evil spells or effects from evil opponents, the character uses the spell resistance of 25 provided by the holy aura spell.

No. The Improved Trip feat gives you a free attack only if you use a melee attack to trip a foe and you succeed. (In effect, this feat replaces the attack you used to make the trip with an attack that can deal damage.) When you're overrunning, you're making a trip as part of the move portion of a charge, not as a melee attack. You can, however, end your charge and use your normal attack against an opponent you've knocked down during an overrun.

Countersong works on sonic magical effects; that is, any spell, supernatural ability, or spell-like effect that has the sonic or language-dependent designator. But countersong does not work against extraordinary abilities and non-magical sound, such as a thunderstone.

Since countersong allows you to use the bard's Perform check result as your saving throw result, it is not effective against spells or effects that have no saving throw to begin with.

No, you have to be within 30 feet of the bard (the countersong follows the rules for a spread) and be subjected to an effect that the countersong can counter. (See previous question.) Note that if you're deafened, you probably aren't subject to anything the countersong can counter.

When you throw three shuriken, make a separate attack roll for each, even though it counts as one attack. There's no attack penalty for the extra two shuriken.

A rogue deals extra damage with a sneak attack any time the target is denied Dexterity bonus to AC or anytime the rogue flanks the target, no matter how many attacks the rogue makes. These conditions are not likely to occur during an attack of opportunity, but, if they do (such as when the rogue is unseen), the rogue gets her sneak attack bonus damage. The same holds true for ranged weapons (but see the next question), provided that the rogue is within 30 feet of her target. Note that sneak attacks are never possible when the rogue cannot see her target.

You apply sneak attack damage only once per attack. If you use one attack to throw three shuriken, you get to apply sneak attack damage only once. Sneak attack damage applies only to one of three shuriken that you throw. You do not have enough precision with the extra attack to get bonus sneak attack or favored enemy damage.

For any bow damage, you apply either your Strength modifier or the bow's maximum Strength, whichever is lower. Anyone can string or use a mighty bow, regardless of Strength.

DMs who recall the tale of Ulysses vs. Penelope's suitors might wish to implement a house rule that limits a weak character's ability to string or fire a mighty bow, but there is no official rule that keeps weak characters from stringing or using one.

Officially, any weapon that gets its own entry in Table 7-4: Weapons in the Player's Handbook requires a separate proficiency, focus, or specialization. For example, the game has four kinds of bows: shortbows, composite shortbows, longbows, and composite longbows. Individual DMs might want to experiment with weapon groups, but such house rules are appropriate only for proficiency, not focus or specialization.

You can make a 5-foot step if you don't otherwise move. In all the cases you mention, the answer is no.

When you charge, all your movement must be in a straight line (and in the same direction), any movement you make before a partial charge counts against you.

As with a charge, the movement you make as part of the ready standard action counts normally as part of your action. In this case, it prevents you from taking the 5-foot step, which you can only take if you don't actually move.

You don't get a move-equivalent action plus a partial action as your turn. You get either a standard action (which does not allow a 5-foot Step), a full-round action (which allows a 5-foot step if the action itself doesn't include movement), or a partial action (which also allows a 5-foot step if the action doesn't include movement).

Yes, you can use an unarmed strike to deliver a touch spell. Since casting a spell is a standard action, you usually have to wait until your next turn to make the unarmed attack. Resolve the unarmed attack exactly the same way you resolve any other unarmed strike. The attacker has to beat the defender's Armor Class with all adjustments, including armor and shield, added in. (The attacker is trying to land a damaging blow, not just touch the opponent.) If the attacker doesn't have the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, the attack draws an attack of opportunity (striking for damage exposes the attacker to more risk than merely touching the opponent to deliver a spell). If the attack is a hit, the attacker deals unarmed damage and discharges the spell. If the attack is a miss, the attacker is still holding the charge.

Spellcasting levels don't stack; if a prerequisite is "x spellcaster" level, you need "x levels" in a spellcasting class to meet the prerequisite.

Using a metamagic feat makes the spell occupy a spell slot of higher level, but it does not actually change the spell's level (except for Heighten Spell, which does increase the spell's level). So long as the wizard in question has enough Intelligence to cast the spell at its actual level (15 for the 5th-level teleport spell), the character can cast the metamagic spell. Note that the character doesn't have to use metamagic to use the 6th-level spell slot; the character can simply prepare any lower level spell in the slot.

If by "the same encounter" you mean the same battle in which the character was paralyzed, the character must delay if she's paralyzed during her turn, but her initiative number does not actually change until she recovers. The same is true for a magically held character or a character reduced to negative hit points. The character hasn't actually left the battle, she just didn't get to do anything when her turns came up.

If the character recovers before her turn in the initiative order, she can act normally during her turn, using her original initiative number. If the character recovers after her turn, she still can act, but she has delayed and her initiative drops accordingly.

There might be cases when a character really has effectively left the battle. For example, say a character fails a saving throw against a hold person spell and the rest of the combatants keep moving while fighting, leaving the he/d character behind. If the held character decides to rejoin the fray after the spell wears off, treat her as a new combatant. (See New Combatants Enter the Fray in Chapter 3 of the Dungeon Master's Guide.)

A personal range spell goes where you go. When you take over a body with magic jar, any personal range spell you had running before the takeover goes with you and you can continue to use it in the body you have taken over. When you leave the body, all your personal range spell effects go with you, including any you might have cast while in the body you've taken over.

In the case of magic jar, hit points go with the body. When you possess a body, you have whatever hit points that body has at the time.

It's an error. All three of these spells should have the same saving throw entry: Will negates (harmless).

Change self and alter self do not prevent the use of supernatural abilities. Nevertheless, glamers can disrupt gaze attacks. You've got to be able to see a medusa's eyes or face to be subject to its gaze. An invisible medusa can't petrify you, and neither can a medusa who has assumed a form that's no longer recognizable as a medusa. Of course, if the medusa assumes a form that has a petrifying gaze attack of its own, the gaze still works. (A medusa masquerading as a basilisk can still petrify you.) You are correct about a polymorphed medusa; polymorphed creatures cannot use their supernatural abilities.

The Player's Handbook is right on both counts. Wall of force is dismissible, and it is impervious to dispel magic, even dispels from the wall of force caster. While you automatically succeed on dispel checks against spells you have cast yourself, a successful dispel check has no effect on a wall of force.

Technically, you must decide to reroll before you know whether you've succeeded or failed; that's why the power description says you've got to keep the reroll even if it's worse than the original roll. It's incumbent on the DM to allow a player at least a moment to decide whether to use the ability. If the DM accidentally blurts out the result immediately, it's okay to let the player reroll.

Whenever damage reduction from any source completely negates the damage from an attack, it also negates most special effects that accompany the attack, such as injury-type poison (which is what a scorpion has), a monk's stunning ability, and injury-type disease. Damage reduction does not negate touch attacks, energy damage dealt along with an attack (such as fire damage from a fire elemental), or energy drains. Nor does it affect diseases delivered by inhalation, ingestion, or contact. See the section on damage reduction in Chapter 3 of the Dungeon Master's Guide for more details.

There's an error. The continual flame spell is an Evocation [Light] spell, not an Illusion (Figment). The rest of the spell description is still accurate, however. The flame from a continual flame spell doesn't generate any heat, doesn't consume oxygen, cannot burn anything, and cannot be smothered or quenched.

The spell says that I need a clear mental image of a specific item to find it. Then it says I must have seen a unique item in person in order to locate it. Is there a difference between a specific item (requiring only a mental image) and a unique item (requiring one to have seen it with one's own eyes)?

The spell allows you to look for three different classes of objects:

You can look for something such as a chair, a stairway, or a gem. If you do, you get the nearest object of the specified type.

Specific objects: The monetary value of a gem is somewhat arbitrary, and it won't suffice for a locate object SPA. You can search for an emerald, or an emerald of a specific size and weight, and if you have the Knowledge (Gems) skill, the Craft (Gemcutting) skill, or maybe even the Appraise skill you probably know enough to specify the size or weight that corresponds to the gem value you want. if you just search for an emerald, you'll get the closest emerald, no matter what its size or weight. if you specify a size or weight, and you have a clear mental image of such an emerald, you'll get the closest emerald of that size or weight, but the spell will not find any other emeralds that might be within range. You cannot specify a range of sizes and weights, because that will not allow you to develop a clear mental picture of a single emerald.

Unique objects: You can look for a particular emerald (such as the one in the king's ring, for example), provided you've seen that particular emerald before.

No, you don't have to attack, but you do have to choose the attack or full attack action. That is, you can declare an attack or full attack, claim the AC bonus, and then not make the attacks to which you are entitled. You cannot use Expertise with the total defense action (or any other action except attack or full attack).

The AC bonus-and the attack penalty -applies from the moment you use it (on your turn) until it's your turn again. If the character in the example above chogm to allocate 3 points of attack bonus to AC, the character gets a +3 bonus to AC against the bugbears' attacks of opportunity and suffers a -3 penalty to attacks against the bugbear shaman. If the bugbear shaman chooses to cast a spell later in the round (before it's the character's turn to act again) and provokes an attack of opportunity from the character, the character also suffers a -3 penalty to the attack of opportunity.

Using a weapon of defending works just like the Expertise feat. (You have to use an attack or full attack action. See the previous questions.) You can't use the weapon like a shield; if you hold the weapon in your off hand and claim an AC bonus for it, you suffer all the penalties for fighting with two weapons, even if you don't actually attack with the weapon.

Yes, you can use Weapon Finesse when fighting with two weapons. If you have Weapon Finesse with both weapons, you get the benefit for both weapons.

A shield throws you off balance when fighting with Weapon Finesse; you have to apply the shield's check penalty to your attack rolls. Note that a masterwork buckler has no check penalty and you can use it with Weapon Finesse and suffer no attack penalty. Weapons don't have check penalties either, and they don't interfere with Weapon Finesse. Of course, if one of your weapons is a shield (such as a spiked shield), then you'll suffer the shield's armor check penalty to all your attacks-even the ones you make with the shield.

Some DMs might want to use a house rule that imposes a check penalty for holding something really heavy in your off hand, perhaps -1 per 5 pounds.

You keep a separate list of spells for each class. A sorcerer/wizard could not use a spell from her wizard spellbook in a sorcerer spell slot unless she also had the spell in question as part of her sorcerer repertoire. The same holds true for any other multi-classed spellcaster. Likewise, the character must use spells from her spellbook to fill her wizard spell slots, and she cannot use a spell she knows as a sorcerer as a wizard spell unless that spell is also recorded in her spellbook.

A wizard/sorcerer cannot simply transcribe spells from her sorcerer repertoire into her spellbook. The character must find the spell on a scroll or in another spellbook, pick it up when she gains a new level, or research the spell from scratch.

The ring doubles the 1st-level arcane spells from each class. Bonus spells from school specialization or high ability scores are not doubled. (See the last sentence of the first paragraph in the item description.)

Note that Odo does not prepare his bard spells (but the ring still doubles his 1st-level spells because bards are arcane spellcasters). As a 3rd-level bard, Odo has two 1st-level spell slots. The ring doubles that to four slots. Odo's 16 Charisma gives him one bonus 1st-level spell, for a total of five 1st-level bard spell slots.

As an 11th-level wizard, Odo has four 1st-level spell slots, which the ring doubles to eight. As a conjurer, Odo gains a bonus 1st-level Conjuration spell, and his 18 Intelligence gives him another 1st-level spell of any school, for a total of ten 1st-level wizard spell slots not interchangeable.

The ring only works for a living wearer (See the first line of the item description.) The ring can regenerate a head or heart, but only if the wearer is still living after losing the head or heart. (For example, a multi-headed creature could survive the loss of a single head.)

You lose the highest level; this might actually remove an XP penalty (by making the character's class levels more even).

Yes, you can lose these levels. The loss works just like any other level loss (hit points, skills, saves, attack bonuses, and any other benefits the level grants are reduced accordingly). In most cases, the character is not able to regain the lost class level by earning experience (to gain a level in a class, you have to meet any requirements the class might have), though the character could earn a level in another class instead.

An ability score 20 Or 21 has an ability modifier of +5 (see Table 2-1). Note that in the current rules all ability scores use the same chart for bonuses and penalties.

Yes, dancing lights is also an Evocation (light) spell, not an Illusion (figment).

Undead are indeed immune to critical hits, and they are also immune to sneak attacks and the ranger's favored enemy bonuses. (The same holds true for constructs, elementals, and oozes.) Rangers who choose these types of creatures as favored enemies are giving up some power. (The designers did this intentionally.) Oozes probably are the weakest choice, since these creatures are mindless and thus darn hard to Bluff (Sense Motive against an ooze tends to be pointless, too), but the ranger still gets a bonus to Listen, Spot, and Wilderness Lore checks against the creature-keep in mind that you make Wilderness Lore checks to track a creature.

If a spell gives a bonus per X caster levels, divide the caster's level by X and round down to determine the bonus. (You always round down in the D&D game unless you're specifically told to round up.) You'd have to be a 6th-level caster to get a +2 bonus from divine favor. (Note that the spell always gives a bonus of at least +1.)

They do. Using both ends of a double weapon works just like fighting with a one-handed weapon in your primary hand and a light weapon in your off hand (see Double Weapons on page 125 in the PH, except that rangers cannot use them with their special two-weapon fighting ability. (See page 45 in the PH.)

If you have a base attack of +1, you can move and draw a weapon as part of that same move action. This lets you move, draw, and attack once at the end of your move. Note that the draw is technically not a free action, it's a bonus action that you can take as part of your move action, so you also could take at least one free action (see Table and attacking.

You can make a charge as a partial action (such as when you surprise a foe and would like to dash in for a quick attack). See the footnotes to Table 8-3 in the PH for more information.

No, the delay is for one or more metamagic feats applied to a single spell, not for each metamagic feat applied to a spell.

Using a whip does indeed provoke an attack of opportunity. It takes more time and effort to crank up a whip attack than it does to, say, pull a crossed time and effort to crank up a whip bow trigger. (With the exception of the sling, most ranged weapons are a tad handier and quicker than a whip more than i5 feet long.) A spiked chain is a melee weapon and considerably less ponderous than a whip (mostly because it's much shorter).

No you can't make an attack of opportunity with a whip, but you could prepare a whip attack or delay attacking until a foe comes within range.

A "bonus" is a positive modifier and a "penalty" is a negative modifier. (There are no negative bonuses or positive penalties in the game.) When attacking with an off hand or with a two-handed weapon, PCs suffer their full Strength penalties. When surprised, PCs lose their Dexterity bonuses, but retain their Dexterity penalties.

Yes. A paladin's Charisma bonus governs the lay on hands ability. If you don't have a Charisma bonus, you don't lay on hands, so be sure to assign good Charisma scores to your paladin characters.

A fly spell is "dispelled when dispelled' Dispel magic ends a spell just as if its duration had run out. (See the first paragraph of the dispel magic spell description, second sentence on page 196 in the PH.) When a fly spell's duration runs out, the user falls gently to the ground.

It's a standard action (see page 82 of the DMG); you must wait until your turn to take a standard action (though you or your ally can use a prepared action or delay to deliver a cure spell in a timely fashion).

Any spell that requires an attack roll and deals damage (in this case "damage" is normal damage, subdual damage, ability damage, or energy drain) can score a critical hit. You can't score a critical hit with a ray of enfeeblement, because it does not deal damage; it deals an enhancement penalty to Strength.

If you score a critical hit with Melf's acid arrow, only the initial damage gets boosted with a critical hit. So, the critical hit deals 4d4 points of damage, and the acid deals ;,d4 points each subsequent round (while the acid lasts).

You cannot choose Improved Critical for all ranged touch attacks, you must choose a particular weapon. You could choose Improved Critical (or Weapon Focus) for a type of attack, such as a ray.

Note that Melf's acid arrow is not a ray. Melf's acid arrow is more accurately called an energy missile. This weapon type would also include spells such as produce flame. (Magic missile, by the way is not an energy missile, but a force effect, and it cannot score a critical hit in any case because it does not require an attack roll.) Likewise, you could choose Weapon Focus, Weapon Finesse, or Improved Critical for touch spells.

You also could use any of the "spell weapons" (ray, energy missile, touch spell) in a sneak attack, provided that the effect in question deals regular or subdual damage; in the latter case, the sneak attack deals extra subdual damage. A sneak attack does not increase ability damage or energy drain.

You get the same result (the item's weakest power) with each use of the identify spell on a particular item. Other spells, such as analyze dwoomer, give you more information.

Yes, a character must always make two saves vs. poison: one save when the creature is poisoned and one save at the end of the onset time (even if the first saving throw is successful).

Absolutely. (This makes cones much easier to adjudicate in play.)

You can Cleave only once a round. If you have the Great Cleave feat, however, you can cleave each time you drop an opponent, even when the opponent drops in a Whirlwind Attack. (When a foe drops, resolve the extra Cleave attack before finishing the rest of the attack rolls for the Whirlwind Attacks.)

In this case, "neutral" means "true neutral," or neutral on both the good-evil axis and on the law-chaos axis. (See page 89 in the Player's Handbook.) A cleric's alignment must be the same as his deity's alignment or within one step of his deity's alignment; that is, adjacent (but not on a diagonal) to the deity's alignment on the alignment chart. See Table 6-1. The true neutral alignment is an exception. You can't have a true neutral cleric of a deity who is not true neutral. Note that St. Cuthbert, a lawful neutral deity, allows only lawful good or lawful neutral clerics, even though the lawful evil alignment is within one step of St. Cuthbert's alignment.

Armor, shield, and weapon proficiencies are indeed class features for clerics and for any other class. Nevertheless, you're correct. Ex-clerics lose spells, domain powers (including domain-based weapons), spontaneous casting, and power over the undead. They retain proficiency in simple weapons and all types of armor and shields.

True neutral clerics can cast any spell of Chaos, Evil, Good, or Law, provided the spell in question is on the cleric spell list (see pages i6o-i63 in the Players Handbook) or in one of the cleric's chosen domains.

The cleric's choice of whether to turn or rebuke undead affects does not affect what spells she can prepare, but it does affect what spells she can cast spontaneously, as noted on page 32 of The Player's Handbook.

Yes, clerics who rebuke undead can use the Extra Turning feat to gain four more uses of the rebuke power each day. Note that true neutral clerics either turn or rebuke undead; they cannot have it both ways. For example, a true neutral cleric who has chosen to rebuke undead can choose the Extra Turning feat to gain four extra uses of the rebuke power each day, but he cannot use Extra Turning to get four uses of the turn power.

There s no such thing as a monk making an off-hand unarmed attack (because monks are already using pretty much their whole bodies for unarmed combat). For unarmed monks, the flurry of blows ability replaces o hand unarmed attacks.

A monk's unarmed strikes usually deal normal damage, but a monk can choose to deal subdual damage instead with no penalty to her attack roll. A monk has the same choice to deal normal or subdual damage while grappling (See Grapple on page 137 of the Player's Handbook.)

Yes. Grabbing and holding on to a foe is a tad more risky than just hitting the foe.

No. If monks got uncanny dodge or the equivalent of that ability the class description would say so.

A monk doesn't get to add his base attack bonus to his unarmed attack bonus does he? I was a little confused when reading the section in the monk class description about flurry of blows. It talks about a 6th-level monk with two unarmed attacks at +7 and +4. The chart shows a monk at 6th level that gets two attacks at +4 and +1.

No. You don't add a monk's base attack bonus to the monk's unarmed attack bonus. Use the Base Attack column on Table 3-10 when a monk uses a weapon and use the Unarmed Attack column when the monk attacks without a weapon.

The flurry of blows example is erroneous; actually it's based on an, unpublished version of Ember, our iconic monk, who has some extra bonuses figured into her attack values.

A 6th-level monk with no extra bonuses normally gets two unarmed attacks at +4/+1 (not +5/+2 as shown in the example). If she uses flurry of blows, she gets an extra unarmed attack at her highest attack bonus, but all her unarmed attacks suffer a -2 penalty, which gives her three unarmed attacks at +2/+2/-1.

Any weapon (including an unarmed strike and a monster's natural weapon threatens a critical on an attack roll of 20 and inflicts x2 damage on a confirmed critical hit unless some other value is listed.

Wholeness of body is a supernatural ability. Supernatural abilities don't work in antimagic fields and using them does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Using wholeness of body is a standard action. (Using any supernatural ability i! a standard action unless its description specifically says otherwise.)

No. The metal attracts the electrical discharge from the spell and makes the target even easier to hit than normal. The target still does not get the benefit of armor, natural armor, or a shield.

No in all cases. You must have at least one free hand to cast a spell with a somatic component. (See page 151 in the Player's Handbook.) You could drop the weapon (or the buckler or shield) as a free action and then cast the spell.

A multi-class character's maximum rank in a skill is based on character level; character level plus three if the skill is class skill for any of the character's classes, or half that if the skill is cross class for all the character's classes. (See page 56 in the Player's Handbook.)

A 3rd-level wizard/1st-level fighter has a maximum rank Of 7 (4+3) in Concentration or in any other skill that's a class skill for a fighter or for a wizard. The character in your example would have to pay two skill points for one rank of Concentration since he's buying the rank with fighter skill Points.

Every character gets one feat for every three character levels. (Your character level is the sum of all your class levels.) Characters get bonus feats from their classes according to their class level. For example, a 5th-level fighter/5th-level wizard would have 4 feats for her character level (you get a feat at 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 8th levels),

Plus 3 extra fighter feats (at 1st, 2nd, and 4th level), Plus 2 wizard feats (Scribe Scroll at 1st level and a bonus feat at 5th level), for a total of 9 feats.

Heavy and light crossbows are two-handed weapons that can be fired (but not loaded) with one hand at an extra penalty (-4), provided the wielder is of sufficient size. Firing a crossbow in each hand is even more difficult (-10 for the primary hand and -14 for the off hand, or -10 for each hand if the shooter has Ambidexterity). Note that for a creature of medium size or larger, a light crossbow is a light weapon, which reduces the two-weapon penalty by 2 (-8 for the primary and -12 for the offhand or -8 for each hand with Ambidexterity).

The hand crossbow is a one-handed weapon, and there is no penalty for using a hand crossbow in one hand. Note that since a hand crossbow is Tiny, a Diminutive creature would need two hands to use it. In such a case, treat one-handed use just like a light crossbow used in one hand.

Small or Medium-size characters can fire hand crossbows from each hand according to the normal rules for attacking with two-weapons. Usually the shooter suffers a -4 penalty for the primary hand and a -8 penalty for the off hand (-4/-4 with Ambidexterity) because a hand crossbow is a light weapon for most characters, see pages 124-125 in the Player's Handbook.

Note that the Two-Weapon Fighting feat is for melee and does not reduce the penalties for using two ranged weapons.

Yes. True strike grants a +2o bonus to your next attack.

In the D&D game, a "round" begins on your turn and ends when it's your turn again. The true strike spell actually lasts until the end of the caster's next turn or until the caster attacks, whichever comes first.

The duration entry for true strike should read "See text," and the spell description should read:

You gain temporary, intuitive insight into the immediate future during your next attack. Your next single attack roll (if it is made before the end of the next round) gains a +20 insight bonus. Additionally, you are not affected by the miss chance that applies to attacks against a concealed target.

When you make a critical roll, you use whatever bonuses apply to the attack roll that made the threat, no matter where those bonuses came from.

True strike affects only one attack; a critical roll is not a separate attack for this purpose. If you make multiple

An attack with a second weapon uses the wielder's base attack bonus, plus all applicable modifiers; some penalty for attacking with two weapons always applies. (See pages 124-125 in the Player's Handbook.)

If you're using Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, you figure the attack bonus for your first attack exactly as for regular two-weapon fighting, the attack bonus for the second attack is made with a -5 penalty from the first attack.

If you don't have Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, you get one attack against every foe within 5 feet, plus one attack for the second weapon.

The Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting feats reduce your penalties, but they don't give you any extra attacks.

If you also have Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, you get one attack against every foe within 5 feet, Plus two attacks with the second weapon.

In either case, you must use your primary weapon for Whirlwind Attack

A partial charge is a charge you take as a partial action. It works just like a regular charge, except you can move only your speed-not up to twice your speed as in a regular charge.

No. Each line on Table 2-1 gives YOU all the bonus spells you get for a particular ability score.

Though the ranger class description refers to a double-headed weapon, the correct term is "double weapon." (A "double-ended" weapon also is a double weapon.)

All double weapons are shown on Table 7-4. If the weapon has two damage ratings separated by a slash it is a double weapon. A quarterstaff is a double weapon.

One can use both ends of a double weapon just as if they were two weapons, or just one end. (if you use one end in two hands, you get one and half times your Strength bonus to damage.) Rangers, however, cannot use double weapons with their special two-weapon fighting abilities, not even quarterstaffs.

In this case, you do indeed provoke an attack of opportunity when you leave the first threatened space if you move more than 5 feet. Taking a move plus a move-equivalent action is not a double move action; a double move action is moving up to twice your speed and doing nothing else. Move-equivalent actions are so named nor because they're exactly the same as moving but because you can perform them and still do something that you normally would combine with a move, such as firing the crossbow you have just reloaded.

Your full Strength bonus applies to off-hand melee attack rolls, only your damage bonus is reduced for the off hand, (See the definition of "off-hand" on P. 280 Of the Player's Handbook.)

Your damage bonus from Strength is always reduced with your off hand, even if you have the Ambidexterity feat. Ambidexterity negates the penalties for making off-hand attacks, but the damage reduction is not a "penalty," it's a rule that governs how a Strength bonus to damage works. If you use two hands to attack, you get one and half times your Strength bonus to damage. In the case of a two-handed weapon, you multiply your Strength bonus by i.5 (and round down to the nearest whole number). If you're using two weapons, you apply the full damage bonus to the primary hand and half the bonus (rounded down to the nearest whole number) to the secondary hand.

If the game did not have this rule you'd actually get more benefit from a high Strength score from using two small, lighter weapons that you would for using a really big heavy weapon in two hands.

Treat any 0-level spell as level 1/2 for purposes of assigning a cost to a magic item (this makes the base price of creating a scroll of one 0-level spell 1/2 x 25 x caster level). For more information on creating magic items and the cost for doing so, see Pages 241-246 in the Dungeon Master's Guide.

You have to make all the decisions required to complete the spell when you begin the spell, just as noted under the Casting Time heading-except the spell's target. The process is analogous to loading a gun. You have to decide what kind of ammunition to load before you can aim and pull the trigger, but you don't have to pick a target until you're ready to pull the trigger.

No. A sorcerer has a natural talent or gift for arcane spells, but that talent or gift only allows the sorcerer to cast a spell without preparing it ahead of time. If you were to watch a wizard and a sorcerer casting the same spell, you could not tell just by looking which was the sorcerer and which was the wizard (not even a successful Spellcraft check would reveal that). The sorcerer uses all the components the spell requires (verbal, somatic, and material) and uses them the same way a wizard does. Of course, either spellcaster can use a feat to make a component unnecessary, such as Still Spell to eliminate a spell's somatic component.

They can, but there is no point in their doing so. A sorcerer or bard who uses a metamagic feat on a spell must cast the spell as a full-round action (or the normal casting time plus an extra full-round action if the spell's casting time normally is longer than 1 action). Clerics using spontaneous casting must follow the same rule. This rule makes Quicken Spell worthless for these characters.

A sleep spell affects 2d4 Hit Dice worth of creatures within a 15-foot burst; creatures with fewer Hit Dice are affected before creatures with more Hit Dice. The caster can place the burst so friendlies are not inside, but that's the only control the caster has over who is affected.

To determine how much control the caster has over a spell's targeting, start by looking at the header information for the spell. If the spell has an "Effect" or "Area" entry, it affects creatures within the area of effect, and the caster can't influence who the spell hits (except by choosing the spell's area or point of origin).

If the spell has a "Target" entry, the caster usually can decide who receives the spell (see pages 148 and 149 in the Player's Handbook), but read the target entry carefully-sometimes it specifies something about the target that you can't control. For example, the teleport spell targets the caster and all objects and willing creatures the caster touches. If the teleport caster is touching something, that something is automatically a target of the spell (unless it is a creature or a creature's equipment and that creature is unwilling to take the trip).

Yes. Part of the fireball is wasted. No portion of the fireball's spread can be out of the spell's range. You can't squeeze a few extra feet of range out of a spell by placing the spell's point of origin at maximum range. Note that this is a departure from the way previous editions of the game did things.

When a spell has a target entry that says no two targets can be more than x feet apart, it means no more than x feet can separate any two targets (all the targets also must be within range-see previous question). For example, the magic missile spell has a target entry that says the spell effects up to 5 creatures, no two of which can be more than 15 feet apart. That means that no more than 15 feet can separate any two creatures affected by the spell. It might be helpful to think of a sphere with a diameter (not a radius) equal to the listed distance. For example, all creatures targeted by a magic missile must fit, within a sphere with a diameter of 15 feet or less. The rules don't describe spells like magic missile this way because that tends to make people think of it as an area spell rather than a targeted spell. (The design team learned this the hard way during play testing.)

In any case, the mass invisibility spell has a target entry and a special condition for maintaining the spell's effect once a target has received the spell. These two things seem to be confusing you. When the spell is cast, no two targets can be more than 180 feet apart. Once you have received the spell, however, you must remain within 180 feet of some other spell recipient (any other recipient, not the most distant other recipient) or you break the effect for yourself. This allows all the spell's recipients to spread out after receiving the spell.

Taking the cast spell action while threatened provokes an attack of opportunity. The character takes that action at the start of the spell's casting time, during her turn in the initiative order. Foes who did not threaten the caster when she took the action don't get attacks of opportunity, even if they subsequently threaten the character. Note, however, that any damage the caster suffers during the casting time requires a Concentration check, so foes who move up and attack can still disrupt the spell.

No. The wizard is not casting the spell when the attack of opportunity occurred.

Yes, but note that the wizard could opt to cast defensively and would not provoke an attack of opportunity if the attempt succeeds. (if the attempt failed, the wizard would lose the spell.)

It's actually too specific, because you're really specifying two different conditions and two different actions. The ready action allows you to specify one partial action and the condition under which you will perform the action. You could simply ready an attack on the wizard whenever he casts a spell, and this would allow you to do any number of things, including attack, take a 5-foot step and attack, or even make a partial charge and attack. In such a case, you would not get an opportunity attack on the wizard when he cast the spell, but you would force a Concentration check if you damage the wizard.

A cleric's domains have nothing to do with spontaneous casting; only the cleric's alignment matters (in the case of neutral clerics, it's the deity's alignment that matters). See page 32 in the Player's Handbook.

There's a Healing domain because many deities concern themselves with healing. Extra cure spells aren't the only benefit clerics with the Healing domain get. They get a caster level boost when casting their healing spells (making them slightly better healers than other clerics). Also, their 5th-level and higher domain spells are not cure wounds spells, so other clerics cannot spontaneously cast them.

The detect magic spell belongs to the Universal school, not the Divination school, so diviners can't claim it as a bonus school spell.

Nystul's undetectable aura masks an item's magical aura, which is the aura a detect magic spell detects. The spell does not block any other aura. The only Divination spell (detect magic is a Universal spell, see previous question) Nystul's undetectable aura affects is identify - the identify user must make a Will save to determine the item's actual power.

Note that detect magic reveals active or residual magical auras, not the effects magic produces. An invisible character or object has a magical aura, but it does not have an invisibility aura. Such a character or item can be detected with detect magic, but not very efficiently (see "Sage Advice" in issue #274).

Note also that many "sentient objects" are not objects at all, but creatures of the construct type. The intelligent items described in the Dungeon Master's Guide, for example, have Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores and are therefore creatures (see Abilities on page 10 of the Monster Manual), and spells that only work on items, such as Nystul's undetectable aura, don't work on them.

Once you cast a touch spell, the spell effect remains, untriggered, until you touch something with your hand or until you cast another spell (see Touch Spells and Holding the Charge on page 151 of the Player's Handbook).

Chill touch follows all the rules for holding the charge on a touch spell (see previous question) except that a chill touch spell has one "charge" per caster level. Each time you touch anything with your hand, you lose one charge off the chill touch, but anything you already had in your hand when you cast the spell doesn't count as being touched. You can't have two chill touch spells running at once, because if you cast a spell while holding a charge the whole spell you're holding dissipates.

Otherwise, you can indeed use the hand bearing the chill touch effect as a weapon. When you're using the two-weapon fighting rules, your own hand is a light weapon for you.

No. Fireball is a long-range spell, so its range is 400 feet + 40 feet per caster level (not yards). This is longer than the range for a lightning bolt, which is a medium ranged spell (100 feet + 10 feet per caster level).

Older versions of the game listed ranges in yards, but the current rules list all ranges in feet.

Note that a lightning bolt spell creates a stroke of electricity that extends from the caster to the maximum range of the spell (space permitting). This is very different from the way the spell worked in older versions of the game. In the previous edition, a lightning bolt worked much like a fireball, it produced a small missile that detonated and generated a stroke of electricity 40 or 80 feet long. The new version of the spell has a shorter overall range, but produces a much longer bolt (300 feet long for a 20th-level caster).

A fireball does have a fixed volume that fills up a confined space as it did in older version of the game. It does follow the rules for a spread (see page 149 in the Player's Handbook), which means it can reach around corners.

In general, you use Table 8-9 in the Player's Handbook to determine saving throw bonuses from cover. Trace the line of effect from the spell's point of origin to determine what sort of cover might be available, and use the diagrams on page 133 of the Player's Handbook to determine the degree of cover. There's no saving throw bonus listed for total cover because if you have total cover against a spell, the spell can't affect you at all.

When you're hit by a spread, you cannot claim total cover if the spell's effect can reach you somehow. Determine the degree of cover by how small a constriction the spread has to pass through to reach you. For example, if you're peering around the corner when a fireball hits, the best you can claim is one-quarter cover. If you're completely behind the corner, but otherwise in the open, the best you can claim is one-half cover. If you're around a corner and halfway behind a door, you can claim three-quarters cover. If the fireball comes at you through an arrow slit, you can claim nine-tenths cover.

If you could disbelieve a silence spell, its save listing would be "Will disbelief." Silence removes all noise in its area and nobody gets a save against that. If the spell is actually targeted on a creature or on a creature's equipment, that creature gets a Will save to negate the spell. If the save succeeds, the spell fails and the area is not silenced.

The tower shield gives cover against both ranged and melee attacks. It also can provide cover against spells and other magical attacks (see the next question). 0

To determine how effective a tower shield is, you have to know where it is in relation to the character trying to use it, just like any other form of cover. If you think of the tower shield user occupying a square, the user can place the shield either along one of the square's sides or at one of the square's corners. Placing the shield along a side gives total cover against attacks that come from or through the square across from that side, half cover from attacks coming in from or through squares at the adjacent corners, and no cover against attacks coming from anywhere else (see the accompanying diagram).

The user also can place the shield at a comer of his square at a 45-degree or shallower angle. If placed at a 45-degree angle, the shield gives total cover against attacks coming from or through the square at the comer, half cover against attacks coming from or through the squares adjacent, and no cover against attacks from anywhere else. A shallow angle gives total cover at the corner, as described above, three-quarters cover along one side, and one-quarter cover along the other side (see the diagram).

Each turn, the tower shield user decides where to place the shield, and it stays there until the user's next turn. When the user isn't engaged in combat, he decides where the shield will be as he's walking around; when combat starts, he cannot change the shield's location until his turn in the initiative order.

When the shield user attacks, his foes get the same cover that the shield would give him against them.

To resolve ranged attacks or melee attacks made with reach, draw a line from the center of the attacker's square to the center of the defender's square (if the defender occupies more than one square, pick one of the squares as the site of the attack). The defender gets the cover bonus of the square that the line passes through. If the line passes through more than one square the shield covers, use the highest cover bonus.

It depends on the type of magical attack. If the magical attack specifically targets the shield user (that is, it does not merely affect the area that contains the shield user but is aimed right at the shield user), the shield has no effect. All rays fall into this category, as does any spell that has a Target entry in its header and any spell that has an Effect entry and affects creatures (provided, of course, that the attacker can and does choose the shield user as a target).

Magical attacks that fill areas (bursts, cones, cylinders, emanations, lines, and spreads) are subject to all the rules for cover on page 133 of the Player's Handbook. Note that spread effects might be able to reach around the shield. If so, the shield provides one-half cover at best.

Being flat-footed doesn't remove a shield bonus.

The effect is somewhat similar to a tower shield (see this month's first question), except that the spell doesn't interfere with your attacks and you are protected against attacks launched from a much larger area.

If you think of the spellcaster as standing in a square, the shield spell effect can be placed so that it lines up with one side of the caster's square and extends out infinitely to the left and right. The spell provides cover against any attack that has to cross that line. The spell effect also can be placed on a diagonal so that it covers two sides of, the caster's square, in which case the line extends away like steps in a staircase (see the accompanying diagram).

No. The character is immune from attacks of opportunity made from the half of the battlefield covered by the shield, though (see the previous question).

A shield spell provides a cover bonus, which stacks with all other defensive bonuses except other cover bonuses, including an armor bonus from any source.

No. The spell's target is you (the

caster), so when you cast it you get a single disc of force you can use for defense. If you cast the spell a second time, you still have a single disc of force you can use for defense. If the spell's target was the disc (or if the spell was an area spell or effect spell) you could have more than one, just like you can summon more than one monster or create more than one wall of force. The target is you, however, so you can have only one shield spell running at a time.

Yes, and a hasted cleric or wizard with the Quicken Spell feat could cast three spells in a round: one as a standard action, the quickened spell as a free action, and a third spell as an extra partial action.

No. The text in question (on page 50 of the first printing) is an error left over from an earlier draft of the rules.

The error has since been corrected. Sorcerers are limited to spells on the sorcerer/wizard list. Note that other books add spells to the sorcerer/wizard list and sorcerers certainly can use those.

No, and no. To fight defensively, you have to use the full attack action. If you cast a spell, you use the cast a spell action.

Yes, and there might be an additional attack penalty if the target has cover from your ally. If your ally provides cover to your target, the ray could strike your ally (see Striking the Cover Instead of a Missed Target on page 133 of the Player's Handbook).

Quicken Spell makes a spell quick; you still need all the components normally required for a quickened spell. For casting spells while grappled, you need Still Spell. For casting spells while silenced, you need Silent Spell.

A quickened spell still provokes an attack of opportunity (but you can cast a quickened spell defensively). A quickened spell can be counterspelled using the normal rules.

Two opposite spells simply negate each other. No dispel check is required, no saving throw is allowed, and spell resistance does not apply.

If the master has a skill and the familiar doesn't, it's "better," and the familiar can ,use it provided that it is physically able to do so. (It would be hard for a cat, for example, to use a Craft skill.) In this case, use the master's skill ranks and the familiar's relevant ability score.

If the master and the familiar both have the same skill, the familiar uses either the master's or the familiar's skill ranks, whichever is higher.

Can masters who possess spell-like or supernatural abilities share them with their familiars (or paladins' mounts)? Can the master share any spell she receives or just spells she casts?

Master and familiar (or paladin's mount), can share only spells the master casts on herself (that is, the master must cast the spell and select herself as the target). Only spells can be shared, not spell-like, supernatural, extraordinary, or natural abilities.

The familiar gets half the master's (undamaged) hit points, rounded down. Constitution bonuses and the Toughness feat count, as does any other permanent hit point gain (such as from gaining a level or a permanent increase in Constitution). Temporary hit point gains don't affect the familiar's hit points.

You can attack only once with a partial or standard action, no matter how many weapons you have. You've got to use the full-attack action (a full-round action) to get any additional attacks to which you might be entitled.

No "rules patch" is planned. You can, however, give the half orc in your example a +2 bonus (or more) to the Intimidate check for a favorable circumstance. In some cases, you can even allow the half-orc (or any other character) to use an ability modifier other than Charisma for Intimidate checks. For example, if the half-orc decides to tie a knot in a horseshoe to intimidate someone, you can use the character's Strength modifier instead (see Skills with Different Abilities on page 91 of the Dungeon Master's Guide).

You're right. The spell doesn't work on creatures, only objects. You can't cast the spell on a point in space, either. Note that casting a spell on a creature's equipment is the same as casting on the creature. In this case, you can cast the spell on an object in a creature's possession if the creature is willing, but not if it is unwilling.

In general, the player rolls the check whenever actively using any skill. The DM usually rolls the check secretly in circumstances when the character might happen to notice, something without really trying, or anytime the DM wants to keep what's really going on a secret. For example, the character listens at a door, and the DM rolls the Listen check secretly so that the player doesn't know if there's really no noise there or if he just got a bad roll. Exactly when to let the player roll and when to roll secretly is a matter of judgment and personal preference.

Since the creature isn't the real the attack roll is irrelevant. If you want to make an attack roll anyway, give the figment of an Armor Class of 10, adjusted for size. After each attack, allow a saving throw for disbelief whether the character hits or not. The very act of attacking means the character is interacting with the illusion. A hit will not necessarily lead to automatic disbelief if the caster is around to make the illusory creature react. The caster could, for example make the illusion roll with a blow and emerge with a mere nick, or even without a scratch.

Do not add values from the Base Attack Bonus column on Table 3-10 in the Player's Handbook to the values on the Unarmed Attack Bonus column. Use the Base Attack Bonus when the monk makes an armed attack and the Unarmed Attack Bonus when the monk makes an unarmed attack (but see the next question).

No. A monk does not always have to use his unarmed attack bonus when making unarmed attacks. The monk can use his best available attack bonus (and number of attacks) along with his unarmed damage or use just his unarmed attack bonus and unarmed damage. For example, a 10th-level fighter/1st level monk has a base attack bonus of +10/+5, which is much better than a 1st-level monk's +0. The character can make two unarmed attacks and still use his 1st-level unarmed damage of 1d6.

You seem to be confused by the text dealing with multi-classed monks on page 55 of the Player's Handbook. This text merely points out that a monk has the option to use only his unarmed attack bonus for unarmed attacks if doing so would give him more attacks. For example, a 1st-level fighter/10th- level monk has a total attack bonus of +8/+3 (+1 for being a 1st-level fighter, +7 for being a 10th-level monk). When attacking unarmed, the monk can make two attacks at +8/+3 or the monk can use just his 10th-level unarmed attack bonus of +7/+4/+1 since that gives the character more attacks.

Yes, the human in your example would indeed suffer an experience penalty (as would a half-elf in the same situation). In this case, "any" means there is no single class these races favor. If humans and half-elves were free to pick any favored class they wanted, and were free to change that choice whenever suited them, that's what the rules would say. But multi-classed humans and half-elves both ignore their highest level classes instead. Note that a multi-classed human or half-elf with only two classes never has to worry about an experience penalty. Adding a third class, however, takes some planning if one wishes to avoid an experience penalty.

With the wish spell, one of the things you can wish for is an inherent bonus of +1 to an ability score. Is this bonus applied to the ability score itself? Or is it a bonus applied only to rolls that ability modifies?

An inherent bonus applies to the ability score. For example, if a character with a Strength Score Of 14 gains a +1 inherent bonus to Strength, the character's Strength increases to 15. Apply the ability's new ability modifier to all rolls the ability affects.

The Player's Handbook says it takes one day to scribe a scroll per 1,000 gp of the scroll's market price. Since the price for a scroll is caster level times spell level times 25 gp, a 1st-level spell scribed on a scroll costs only gold pieces. How long does it take to scribe the scroll?

The minimum time to create any magic item is one day; see page 242 in the Dungeon Master's Guide.

There is no Strength requirement to use a bastard sword. A bastard sword is a Medium-size weapon. It follows all the rules for Medium-size weapons, except that a Medium-size creature wielding the sword in one hand suffers a -4 attack penalty with it unless she has Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword). A Small creature using the sword in two hands is just like a Medium-size creature wielding it in one hand. So, your halfling (or gnome) suffers a -4 attack penalty when using the sword two-handed but suffers no attack penalty if she has Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword) and uses two hands; because the sword is Medium-size, a Small character cannot use it one-handed.

You have to spend skill points or choose feats as soon as you get them. There's no reason for DMs to be absolute about this. If you're running a campaign and one of your players just can't decide right away, it's okay to let the player wait awhile, but the character must spend the points or choose the feat before the character in question gains another level (just delay all the benefits for the new level until the player spends the points of chooses the feat).

As "Sage Advice" has pointed out before, you can't use Expertise and total defense at the same time. (You can use Expertise only as part of the full-attack or attack actions.)

If the character in the example also had 5 or more ranks in the Tumble skill, her dodge bonus from fighting defensively would be +3 instead of +2, and her total Armor Class bonus would be +5.

Since Expertise is not the same as fighting defensively, your Tumble ranks don't help you when you use Expertise without also fighting defensively.

The binder gets a +10 bonus. This error was corrected in the second printing of the Player's Handbook.

When you use Spring Attack to attack a foe, your movement during your turn does not provoke attacks of opportunity from that foe, even if your movement takes you through several squares the foe threatens (as would be the case for an opponent with reach).

When or how often you move during your turn is irrelevant, but you must make an attack to get the benefit. Only the opponent you attack becomes unable to respond to your movement with an attack of opportunity; that opponent's allies suffer no such restriction.

Taking a prestige class doesn't cause an experience penalty; see page 27 in the Dungeon Master's Guide.

You can take any number of prestige classes, provided that you qualify for them. Prestige classes do not impose multi-class experience penalties (see previous question), no matter how many prestige classes you have.

Barbarians who become multi-class characters automatically become literate in all languages that they currently speak and in any future languages they learn.

A cleric's domain abilities are class abilities and as such are based on cleric level only.

Turning only affects undead. Some cleric domains allow you to turn, rebuke, or command creatures other than undead (see pages 162-166 in the Player's Handbook), but no domain grants that power over good, evil, chaotic, or lawful outsiders.

You could reintroduce this power into your-campaign by creating a new feat, domain, or prestige class.

When you have a domain power that lets you turn or rebuke something other than undead, does using that power count against your daily uses to turn undead as a cleric? Can you trade a use of undead turning for a use of some other turning, or vice versa?

No on all counts. A domain turning ability is separate from the cleric's undead turning ability. You track the daily use of each separately, and you can't trade uses between abilities.

The greater turning ability affects only undead, not other creatures the cleric might be able to turn.

In either case, the creatures' bodies are destroyed and reduced to dust or ashes. DMs can describe the process any way they like. I suggest an effect just like the destruction spell: The creature is slain and its remains are consumed by holy fire.

That said, there's no compelling reason to limit Extra Turning to undead. I recommend that DMs allow characters to apply the Extra Turning to other types of turning. Each time you take Extra Turning, you apply it to either undead or to another kind of turning your character can perform. You don't increase both by picking the feat once. If you have the Sun domain, any successful turning attempts you make against undead destroy those undead, even if they're extra attempts.

You are correct: Pinned characters are not helpless and are not subject to coup de grace.

You can use an unarmed attack for a coup de grace. The target has to save as noted on page 133 of the Player's Handbook. Note that you can deal normal damage with an unarmed attack by taking a -4 penalty to the attack (you automatically hit when you deal the coup de grace, so the penalty isn't relevant). If you choose to deal normal damage, you'll eventually kill a helpless foe even if the foe keeps making successful saving throws.

Here are some rules Jonathan Tweet and I cooked up:

If you don't have a swimming speed (or a freedom of movement effect), you suffer a -2 penalty to attacks and damage when underwater. Any slashing weapon, blunt weapon, claw attack, or tail attack also inflicts half damage (subtract the 2 points first, then take half of the rest and round down). Remember that a successful hit still inflicts at least 1 point of damage.

Even if you have a swimming speed, you inflict half damage with slashing or blunt weapons (but not claws) unless you have a freedom of movement effect.

There is no such rule. Perhaps the other players are thinking about the rule that bars clerics from casting certain spells that have an alignment designator (see Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells on page 32 in the Player's Handbook). Doom, however, has no alignment designator, and a cleric of any alignment can cast it.

The inflict light wounds doesn't have an alignment designator either, so any cleric can cast that as well. What your lawful good cleric cannot do is use the spontaneous casting rule to cast inflict light wounds. As a good cleric, you can spontaneously cast only cure spells.

The spell produces a ball of fire that fills a 20-foot radius spread. If you place the fireball so they you're within the spread, you get burned. Note that if you place the spell so that the spread's point of origin is more than 20 feet away from you, you won't be caught in the spread. In previous editions of the game, a fireball filled a fixed volume and the effect would always fill that volume if it could, reshaping itself if necessary. This often caused the caster to be caught in the effect. The current version of the spell doesn't do that; it follows the rules for a spread effect on page 149 of the Player's Handbook.

The delayed blast fireball description in the first printing of the Player's Handbook is wrong. The spell inflicts 1d6 points of damage per caster level, to a maximum Of 20d6. This has been corrected in the second printing.

Is the description for the color spray spell correct? Subjects with less than 5 HD will spend 1d4 rounds blinded before becoming stunned. This would seem to indicate that they could fight with a 50% miss chance and then suddenly regain their vision, but be stunned and unable to act.

Yes, there's an error. The effects don't occur in order; they occur together. The list of effects should read:

Up to 2: Unconscious for 2d4 rounds, also blinded for the first id4 rounds, and also stunned for the first round. (Only living creatures are knocked unconscious.)

3 or 4: Blinded for 1d4 rounds and stunned for the first round.

5 or more: Stunned for 1 round. This is official errata.

Note that many creatures, such as undead, cannot be stunned.

Yes, stunned creatures drop what they're holding, as noted in the Player's Handbook glossary (page 282).